


Daylight

by Kimmy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Aroace Tony Stark, Aromantic Asexual Tony Stark, Aromantic Tony Stark, As in: if you see a tag I should add, Asexual Tony Stark, Dealing with problems like adults, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Getting Together, Healthy Relationships, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Racism, Therapy, let me know!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:02:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmy/pseuds/Kimmy
Summary: "I thought love would be red, but it's golden, like daylight."Well, actually, love is green. Not the neon green of jealousy, but warm green of hope and new beginnings.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Loki, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Darcy Lewis/Hope Van Dyne, Jane Foster/Thor, Loki & Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23
Collections: Marvel Trumps Hate 2019





	Daylight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chOAswithacause](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chOAswithacause/gifts).



> Me? Stealing Taylor's quotes again so I don't have to do titles and summaries myself? No way.   
> This was written for MTH2019! Which means that as it's still one hour left of 2020, I am NOT late. Definitely not... ;)

Tony was _tired._ He was tired and he just wanted to go home to sleep and shower (shower sounded so good) but instead, he had to run around because his new pet project... friend, that is, run away when Tony was trying to get Clint out of the vent and explain to him that he can stay in the tower but only if he’s in the guest room and not in the ceiling.

Ultimately, he mostly agreed because Natasha threatened to withdraw sex from him, which was a shocking realization that they were together but also a relief because if Clint was in one bed with her, Tony could trust Nat to keep him in that bed.

Thor had left with Loki in tow, Steve with them, probably off to Asgard or SHIELD or both, and somewhere in that flurry of activity, Tony lost Bruce.

So now he was on the street because Jarvis told him Bruce left the building and like hell, he was allowing his new science buddy to run away. Thankfully Bruce was down the street, probably having only left shortly before Tony realized his absence. Unfortunately, he had his duffel bag, which confirmed Tony’s fears.

He was tired and aching all over but he didn’t care right now. He took a deep breath and run after Bruce until he was jumping on the man’s back in a hug attack.

„Brucie!”

„Oh my God!” Bruce almost fell over under the weight of his new human backpack. „Tony?! You gave me a heart attack.”

„Where are you going?”

„Um, to the nearest bus station, I guess?”

„But _why,_ Bruce?”

„To catch a bus?” Bruce looked so adorably confused it broke Tony’s heart.

„Again, why? There is a perfectly comfortable bed in my guest room and if you still wanna get out of New York in the morning... We can talk then?” Tony hoped he didn’t sound too pleading but the truth was that with Rhodey being a soldier boy he didn’t have a science playmate for years now and he was happy to latch onto Bruce and admit that. „Please?”

Bruce’s eyes showed signs of internal struggle for full three seconds before they settled on resignation and he didn’t protest when Tony put his arm around his shoulder and led him back to the tower.

And that’s how it all began.

***

After Bruce let Tony bring him into the flurry of superhero life, things ended up happening quickly. Thor apparently took Loki to Asgard during the night, because neither SHIELD nor any Earth authority was insistent on dealing with him. Steve didn’t really have much to do with them. He went on a journey to rediscover America and himself. At the Tower, the conversation Tony promised happened, and it ended in a rather unexpected outcome of Bruce leaving New York but not in any way he expected. The city was in shambles and Stark headquarters suffered too. Tony decided to move back to Malibu, which was where he actually lived most of the time and took Bruce with him. Clint and Natasha agreed to move into the tower and would oversee the reparations for Tony.

And Bruce was actually happy with this arrangement.

It took some time to get used to.

At first, it was an exhilarating rush of something new. The road trip to Malibu, the absolute opulence of Tony’s house but at the same time the peace and quiet of the beach, being surrounded by water and nature. All that and the fact he and Tony were alone around there suited him surprisingly fine.

Tony’s money still felt weird at times but he missed real showers when he was in India and Tony made sure he wouldn’t feel guilty enough to ever leave by sending a team of doctors to several countries in need, insisting the could do much more than Bruce alone.

Because Bruce could do the most by Tony’s side, working on much more advanced projects than broken bones. He couldn’t argue with that. Going back into the depth of theoretical physics, real science, actually advances research... it was awkward and new but fantastic.

And Tony was a great friend.

This new life was nothing like Bruce ever imagined for himself. He was sometimes a green rage monster and was living in a villa by the ocean with his new billionaire friend who let him play with a particle accelerator in their free time. If someone told Bruce that ten years ago he would have laughed hard. And yet now here he was, with all the equipment in the world to try and get rid of Hulk and yet he couldn’t bring himself to. He had finally found a place where he was accepted and wasn’t alone.

No, Bruce’s life did not end up looking anything like he thought it would after Natasha found him in Calcutta.

But it turned out great.

And little did he know that things were about to get even more interesting.

It was only expected living with Tony Stark... but some things just couldn’t be predicted.

***

They have fallen into a routine. They would get up... well, Bruce would get up, and make breakfast. He would drag Tony out of bed or the workshop to eat it, and then they would get back down to the workshop to work on a project or if Tony was on a bender for the past few days Bruce would force him to sleep. Then in the afternoon, when Tony woke up or Bruce look at the clock, or, usually, Jarvis reminded them what time it was, Tony would make dinner because Tony was a ridiculously good cook once he was awake enough to be let near knives.

And then they would science some more until they passed out.

The day it all began was a day like any other in what has so quickly become Bruce’s new reality.

It was a month since The Invasion and the media has finally quietened somewhat, the news no longer surrounding and overwhelming. They finished a project of irrigation systems for dry climates last night so they had nothing on their table at the moment. Maybe that was why Tony finished the last bite of toast, some crumbs clinging to his goatee, not helping his still-not-awake look, and declared he had an idea for what to do with a wary voice.

„I want to go over the battle footage.”

Bruce took a deep breath, told Hulk to go back to sleep and sighed.

„Okay.”

It’s been a month, after all. Maybe it was high time. Did they even need to go back to that day though? Was there any specific need to analyze the battle again? Bruce was not a military man by all means (everyone knew that) but even he was aware it was a smart idea to squeeze as much as they could out of this experience. Of course, SHIELD probably had people working on it since the start but they weren’t in the centre of the action the way Tony was (or Bruce, but he didn’t remember much).

Two scientific minds such as theirs would also offer a much different perspective than a spy agency.

„What do you think happened to Loki?”

Tony turned to look at him, probably as surprised as Bruce himself was by the question. He didn’t know what prompted it but it was hard to really separate this invasion from its figurehead. Loki made it about himself and yet at the end, he didn’t put up a fight. He seemed to submit to the fact he was defeated and Earth was all too happy to hand him off to the Asgardian justice system.

„Wouldn’t know. Whatever the space punishment for trying to take over a planet is. We didn’t get to know Thor too well but from what he was saying and all Jane told me it doesn’t seem to be a very severe crime on Asgard. Am I happy with it? Not really. Loki may get away with this with just a slap on his wrist but... I’m not sure trying him on Earth would be any better.”

Bruce just hummed in agreement, thinking about how little he knew about Thor and the entire alien business. Honestly, he should probably show a bit more interest in it, because, after all, aliens being real was a big deal, but he was always more interested in his theoretical physics than the real world.

He knew Jane too. Jane Foster was brilliant and adorable and dating Thor, which made her a fantastic science buddy, even over Stryke (Tony tried hard to make a Stark pun on Skype and didn’t quite manage), as well as premium gossip source for the closest galaxy. Bruce was interested in only the first part, Tony, however, in both, if not more so the latter.

They settled down on the couch, not planning on doing any real engineering today and choosing it as a comfortable place to play with holograms. It was also a prime spot for watching big size on the projector Tony has installed for more demanding visual analysis. He felt more than heard Tony take a deep breath, bracing himself, their shoulders touching as Tony subconsciously or not sought support and assurance before he muttered the command to Jarvis and the screen lit up with the recounting of the events.

It took them hours, much pacing, a lot of zooming and cutting and saving, and comparing footage, and at the end of it, they had more questions than answers, with one at the forefront of their results.

„Remember how you asked what happened to Loki before started all this?”

Bruce turned away from where the gods face took up the entire holoscreen, eyes wild and blue, to Tony’s unfocused gaze, nodding.

„I think we need to find an answer to that.”

Bruce couldn’t help to agree, his head spinning.

***

The first hint came at them out of nowhere, innocuous and easy to overlook, in form of one of Tony’s classic quips. Loki’s face was huge on their screens at the moment because they were going over the Stuttgart situation and Tony just sort of zoned out suddenly staring at it.

„He is really handsome when you take away the whole wanna-be-dictator for a while. Like, I mean, the kneeling thing, very sexy in the bedroom, less so on the street. He has nice eyes. Not sure if blue suits him, somehow, but like, the shape and general... how does one describe eyes?”

Bruce just looked at Tony, blinking, trying to process it, and didn’t even begin to think of judging before Tony turned to look at him and interpreted the look himself.

„Right. He tried to enslave humanity, maybe I will shut up now.”

Bruce didn’t comment, but then he also sneaked another glance at the photo. Tony wasn’t wrong.

They didn’t think much of how attractive Tony found Loki again until it was almost midnight and they were looking at the post-battle footage from the penthouse.

Specifically, rewinding the footage for the fifth time because _something_ about it kept bugging Bruce. Tony was sat on the floor by now, some print-outs strewn around him, a can of some fruity energy drink in hand. He was mumbling something about how Loki’s hair would look much prettier if let loose rather than slicked back and Bruce blinked, shaking his head, reminding himself to think about the footage and not how beautiful Loki was. The task was made harder by the fact that as much as he was beaten into the floor, literally, Loki was the main, beautiful, part of the footage. Yes, he was bloody, but he still had a lovely fair but not quite pale skin, now dishevelled hair, the leather get-up that shouldn’t be so sexy and those eyes...

Wait.

Those eyes... Those lovely, green eyes...

„Tony!”

Tony fell over, spilling the energy drink all over himself, startled by Bruce’s yelling, blinking like a deer caught in the headlight.

„Why what when where?”

„Tony, I got it. I know what’s wrong with it?”

„Something is wrong with it?”

„We need to get you to sleep but first, the damn footage has been bothering me and I know why! Loki’s eyes are green, Tony!”

Tony blinked, his mind still coming online.

„Yeah...? Yeah, they... Wait, what?! Weren’t they blue?”

Bruce just nodded.

„Oh God, you think... Like Clint and Selvig and... but that means... Bruce! We have to go to Asgard, now!”

„No, now we have Jarvis save our work and we go to bed and in the morning we look for more evidence and then we go to Jane to find out how we can get to Asgard.”

„But Loki...”

„If Loki had to survive without us knowing for a month already he will deal for another day. And you’re a mess.”

It was a testament to Tony’s tiredness that he didn’t protest when Bruce led him to the bedroom and forced him to take off the sugar drenched hoodie. He sat on the bed and waited for Tony to get out of the shower to make sure he didn’t drown. He knew Jarvis would make sure Tony didn’t die but he felt better seeing for himself. Then, as he saw Tony actually get into bed, he left, his mind running at lightspeed.

He had a feeling things were about to get hectic in the coming days.

***

In the morning, Bruce was woken up by Tony climbing into his bed.

„Tony? What the hell? I am not interested in you that way.”

„That’s great, because I’m not interested, full stop.” Having said that, he settled himself comfortably next to Bruce anyway, not letting the other man process his words. „Listen, I need to know if it was some fucked up nightmare or if we really discovered, last night, that Loki was mind-controlled during the invasion.”

That made Bruce finally open his eyes, the memory of the last day returning.

„I... I think we did.”

They both got out of bed and ate breakfast in record time only because Bruce insisted. They went through the footage again, looking for different hints, and by the time it was noon and Jarvis ordered them pizza himself because they ignored him, they were pretty sure.

„I mean, he pretty rough looking. Like no offence but cold sweat, crazed look in his eyes, the eye colour thing. He seemed weirdly disorientated and cooperative after you smashed him. We have at least three clips of him zoning out like he was talking to someone despite being alone or flinching like someone slapped him. And I am having this really dreadful feeling...”

„That it was too easy?”

Tony took another bite of pepperoni.

„I mean, aliens attacked us and after less than a week we won and lost fewer people in the entire three attacks than in 9/11. Yeah, it was too easy. But we just never wondered if it was dumb luck or something else. I mean, Germany: Loki basically surrenders without a fight, which we later assumed was to get to the hellicarrier and unleash Hulk. But it makes no sense. No offence to Natasha but after seeing this entire conversation I feel like it was just... a coincidence. I mean, there was no way Loki could predict we would take him to a flying hellicarrier, that you would be there, that you would hulk out, the cage falling... And that sceptre kept affecting us! Which brings us, eventually, to Manhattan, and the fact he set up shop on my roof, which is the last place you want to be if you want to avoid me, and other superheroes, and the portal! The portal was so small. It was a bottleneck working in our advantage! We went over the device specs. You know he could have opened a much bigger portal.”

Bruce’s mind was spinning.

„Do you think SHIELD knows?”

„I think they don’t care either way.”

Bruce wished he didn’t agree but he knew it was the truth. SHIELD was far from the good guys in the traditional sense of the phrase.

„So... We’re going to Asgard?”

„I think so. I mean. Yesterday I was worried Loki will get away with this, now I am worried he will _not_ get away with this just... I don’t know. They should know, right? He would tell them when they interrogated him, during the trial. If they have the sceptre it’s solid evidence.”

„If their judicial system works like ours. Isn’t Asgard an absolute monarchy?”

„But the king is Loki’s dad, right? So he should be fine.”

Bruce just looked at him.

„Yeah, I think I’d prefer to see for myself too.”

„So we’re going to Asgard.”

„We’re going to Asgard.”

After all, what was the worst that was gonna happen? They’d see to it to get to bottom of the Loki situation and travel to another planet (realm?) which was probably every scientists’ wet dream. It would be fine.

***

It was not fine.

To begin with, they did not to Asgard. Well, obviously they didn’t. They went to New Mexico.

„I don’t know how.”

Tony was sprawled on Jane’s couch already, watching Darcy play some video game.

„What do you mean you don’t know how? You’ve been there, right?”

„When Thor takes me and he always just yells at Heimdall. I tried that already. Doesn’t work. He won’t open the Bifrost for me.”

„Well, then we will make our own.”

Both Bruce and Jane turned to look at Tony. He seemed unfazed, having by now acquired another controller and playing with Darcy like he didn’t just suggest a scientific breakthrough for Monday dinner. Then again, he was Tony Stark. He discovered a new element, probably at lunch break.

„Tony, Thor says Asgardians were rebuilding it for months and you think you can just make a quick one?”

Tony stood up and went to stand in front of Jane.

„Asgardians also call it a rainbow bridge. But I have two fantastic theoretical scientists and my own building skills. I don’t _think_ we can do it. I know it.”

Somehow, looking at his easy smile, at Jane’s awestruck expression, Bruce found himself believing it.

And good thing he did because by the time the sat down to eat Tony went through Jane’s notes and happily declared she basically designed the working thing already, he just needed a few days to engineer it.

Never doubt the power of science and Tony Stark’s stubbornness.

***

They didn’t tell SHIELD they were going to Asgard, but they also didn’t tell _Asgard_ because they didn’t really have a way to do so and now Bruce was wondering if they shouldn’t have _found a way_. There were ten tall, muscly men in blindingly golden armour pointing their spears straight at them.

On the other hand, that meant they survived and actually succeeded.

„Jane?”

Of course, thankfully Asgard probably deemed an unauthorized Bifrost opening a dangerous enough occurrence to send their crown prince to deal with it. Jace didn’t seem to care much about the spears, pushing one aside to throw herself at Thor.

„Tony built me an Einstein-Rosen bridge! Try to top that gift.”

Thor glanced at Tony, his eyes sparkling with what seemed to say _challenge accepted_.

„Friend Tony. Friend Bruce. This is certainly an... unexpected visit.”

Bruce resisted the urge to sigh. He knew this was a bad idea.

„Yeah, sorry for not knocking, Thor. We wanted to check in with you and you’re a bit hard to get a hold of.”

„Even by your girlfriend.”

Thor glanced at Jane guiltily at her quip.

„Thankfully we found a way ourselves thanks to your queen here so you two can spend quality time together and help us with our questions.”

Bruce wondered how open Asgard was to indecent joke because if it was overly strict Tony would get them thrown straight into a dungeon before the hour passed. With his luck, if they landed there Loki wouldn’t be there.

Finally, Thor waved the knights with the spears away and led them down the Bifrost (unlike the science trio version - Tony’s vocabulary was rubbing off on Bruce - which was compact and silver and boring, this really just looked like a glass rainbow) and into his own quarters. As they passed through the town and the palace the gold theme just became even more prevalent. Obviously, Asgard liked shiny things.

„What is it you seek answers too, friends?”

Jane seemed to have lost interest in the conversation now that they were here and threw herself on Thor’s bed, snuggling in comfortably. It did look ridiculously soft and they were up all night building a space teleporter.

Oh, God. They really built a space teleporter overnight. It still didn’t feel quite real.

„We were going over the battle with Loki, analyzing the situation... And we were wondering what happened to him?”

Thor’s brow creased but more so in confusion than worry.

„You have nothing to worry about, friends. My brother is safely locked up in the dungeon where he can do no harm. Did anything happen to make you question that?”

Bruce frowned, looking at Tony, silently letting him know to take over.

„Um, yeah, Point Break, we were sort of wondering if he should be in the dungeon. I mean, have you discovered anything about why he attacked Earth during the trial?”

„Trial?”

Bruce and Tony shared a pointed look at Thor’s confusion.

„I do not understand why we would need a trial. In Asgard, Allfather sees all, and he metes out just sentences. Loki has greatly harmed your planet and for that, he will spend the rest of his days in the dungeon.”

„Rest of his days?” Bruce couldn’t help but speak up. „Don’t you guys live like five thousand years?”

„We do, aye.”

„And how old is Loki?”

„About nine hundred.”

Bruce sat down, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. Jane was long asleep, unaware of the tension in the room. He decided to let Tony explain this to Thor.

„Thor, buddy, I trust your father is a great king but um... Did no one ask Loki _why_ he attacked our planet?”

„His heart has been wretchedly corrupted for years now since he found out his monstrous ancestry and tried to throw himself into the abyss. My family has greatly grieved the loss but Loki is no longer the brother I knew.”

 _Monstrous ancestry_. Bruce remembered that Thor said Loki was adopted. And now he was also implying that he tried to commit suicide and failed to so.

„Okay, big guy... Can we talk to your dad about that?”

”What is there to talk about? My father has fallen into Odinsleep and I am acting as king now.”

„Odinsleep? I assume that’s like a coma. Okay. That’s great! We can just talk to you then, right? Because you see, we are actually here to ask about Loki in an official manner. On a sort of diplomatic mission.” Bruce’s head snapped up to watch Tony work his magic. „You see, on Earth, we have this custom, very important one that shows the friendship between planets, um, realms. Anyway, it’s called prisoner extradition and it’s when a criminal who hurt our place is from another place, that country gives the prisoner to us so we can judge him ourselves, in a show of friendship and good faith.”

Bruce watched, nervously, the grim and suspicious expression on Thor’s face.

„Friend Tony. I understand politics are important but if you think I will give you my brother, monster that he became or not, to kill him, you are gravely mistaken. I love him and I will see to it that he is comfortable and safe from harming anyone in his cell.”

Bruce felt a bit faint. Did Thor really just call Loki a monster in the same sentence he claimed to love him?

„Listen, buddy, no one will be killing him. He will get just as comfortable cell, we just wanna... talk to him. It’s an Earth custom, we talk to our prisoners.”

Thor seemed unsure so Bruce decided to find help elsewhere.

„Listen, Thor. How about you let us talk to Loki and you wake up Jane and ask her to explain our judicial system to you a bit and concept of human rights and investigations? And after talking to her, you can decide, as the king after all, if you will allow us to take Loki with us?”

After a moment, Thor agreed, and as they were led down the stairs to the dungeons, trusting Jane to explain things to Thor gently, Bruce wondered what they were getting into, essentially kidnapping a royal prisoner under the guise of diplomacy.

Thankfully Thor didn’t know enough about Earth to see through their bullshit, and with every step, Bruce had a sinking feeling it was for the better.

***

Loki’s cell was the only one in this part of the dungeons, and the solitary confinement did nothing to make Bruce less queasy. It was a single room, scarily white walls, no windows, artificial light and a transparent screen (one-way mirror of magic?) that showed the entire cell in a way that made even Bruce feel exposed.

The furniture was tasteful, fit for royalty, almost a mockery of normal sleeping quarters. Loki was sitting on the floor, a book in hand, ignoring them. He was dressed in a lovely set of robes a bit similar to his armour but lighter and more elaborate.

Bruce should _not_ be thinking about that.

Tony and Bruce stopped in front of his cell and Tony stared at the guard until he got a hint and walked away. Finally alone, they both turned to Loki, who stopped pretending to ignore them and stood up. Not a one-way mirror then, if he could see them. So a window into the cast darkness of this chamber. Not much better.

„Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, am I right? Have you come to gloat?”

„No, actually, we’ve come to talk. I have a few questions, Reindeer Games. First, why did you attack our planet?”

Loki’s exterior facade didn’t move but Bruce thought he heard a quiet gasp.

„Because I wanted to conquer it, why else?”

Even said with a straight face, the worse dripped of mockery and irony, as if repeating the mantra told to him enough times he started to believe it.

„Yeah, so Thor has said. Now, why did you _really_ attack us? Because let me tell you _my_ theory. I think you didn’t want to. I think someone made you.”

The sharp intake of breath came from inside the cell despite Loki’s lips not moving. This time Bruce was certain he heard it. Suddenly, the surface of the barrier rippled and what turned out to be an illusion fell apart. Bruce wanted to vomit.

Loki was on the floor, sitting against the far wall. He was barefoot, in a simple linen green tunic and black pants. The soles of his feet were covered in blood, his hair dishevelled and eyes red from crying. The entire room was upturned around him, things strewn around like Loki himself exploded and Bruce thought that he probably did if he was as powerful as Thor said, with all that magic contained and no outlet.

„And what makes you think so?”

This Loki’s voice was different. Raw, quiet, uncertain. Bruce could not hear another word and he already knew their answer. This wasn’t the illusion, the calm visage that rippled before them a moment ago was. This was real, Bruce knew that even without magic.

Tony, next to Bruce, dropped the cocky facade and relaxed.

„Well, am I wrong?”

Loki was silent for a long while. They let him, waiting patiently.

„No.” He said, eventually, the single word seeming to take a lot of effort. „But no one believed. No one saw. No one even listened. All I wanted was to go back home, for things to go back to normal. I went through hell and I sabotaged the invasion and all I got was _this!_ ”

The last word ripped out of Loki’s throat in a deep guttural scream of anger and despair.

„I just want it to be over. I just want all of it to be over and for things to go back to the way they were before.”

Tony sighed next to him, probably thinking the same thing Bruce did - it’s never possible, no matter how much you wish for it. After a while, giving Loki the time to calm down, Bruce decided to speak up.

„I can’t promise you things will get better but we can take you out of this cell and promise to try and make them better if you go to Earth with us.”

Loki didn’t raise his head but his back tensed. He didn’t say a word but after a while, he nodded. Bruce looked at Tony and took it as a confirmation.

„Well, we will go and arrange thing with Thor and give you time to ah... clean up a bit. I assume you won’t want him to see you like this?”

Neither he nor Tony knew what it’s like to have a sibling but they knew enough to know Thor and Loki were even more complicated than that. Loki just laughed and shrugged and lay back down against the wall, eyes closed.

They turned to leave, but as they walked away, a quiet _thank you_ followed them.

***

Jane, the goddess that she was, managed to explain the entire situation to Thor. When they met with him he had a ring of keys in his hand and looked like someone just kicked his puppy. Bruce guessed that wasn’t far off from the truth, considering he just found out his homeland’s law kicked his brother. Repeatedly.

They were quiet as they went down to the cell, and by the time they reached the cell again, Loki looked perfectly composed. Still, it was obvious this was not an illusion. He was still in the same tunic and pants, but he had shoes now and a simple long vest over it.

(The vest looked great on him and Bruce needed to stop thinking how attractive Loki was.)

All the furniture was whole again, his face impassive, and he even brushed his hair. If he didn’t see it with his own eyes, Bruce would never guess what happened here ten minutes ago.

Thor said some official things about turning Loki over to Earth’s custody but didn’t shackle him. He opened the cell, and Loki didn’t say a word, refusing to meet his brother’s eyes. Jane looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.

It easily proved their theories about Loki’s intentions when he just walked out of his cell without running or attacking anyone. They walked to the Bifrost different way than originally, probably avoiding showing Loki in the middle of busy streets. Heimdall didn’t say a word as they stepped up on the Bifrost platform, but he did give Tony a stinky eye when he waved the Bifrost 2.0: Portable Suitcase at him with a disarming smile. Loki stood next to them, Jane next to Thor after she hugged them hard, having decided she will stay in Asgard for a while.

And then, they were back in Malibu, standing in the middle of Tony’s terrace like nothing happened. But a week ago they were there drinking coffee, and now, there was a traumatised alien with them.

Traumatised alien that Bruce himself beat into the ground.

Oh, God.

„I’m just gonna... Sorry, I gotta go.”

He didn’t exactly flee inside. He just evacuated strategically.

***

When Loki was a little boy, Frigga would tell him and Thor stories to sleep. They were lovely stories with happy endings of princes winning princesses’ hearts and legends of glorious battled and building kingdoms. But sometimes Odin would tell them stories instead if Frigga was busy or sick or away.

Odin’s stories were about hunting for bilgesnipes in dangerous forests and perilous journeys to other planets and terrifying monsters... Jotnar. Whenever Odin told them about Jotunheim and how he slew Frost Giants, Thor would jump on the bed, and scream that one day he would kill all the evil Jotnar so none of them would break into their room and hurt Loki.

Loki woke up with a start, the nightmare chasing him into the waking world.

One of his hands was out from under the comforter, slightly blue, but he couldn’t be sure if that was the strange light of the moon or his skin. He hid back fully under the blanket, the impossibly soft cotton feeling much better on his skin than Asgardian silk. That was something he didn’t expect when he visited Midgard, but then the Hawk wrestled him into bed, and even with Thanos clawing at his mind, even working on attacking the Earth and saving it at once, he recalls that one thought he had.

That Asgard was all for show, and he liked how here, on Midgard, things were for comfort instead.

Yesterday still felt like a dream but the gentle darkness of the room, so different from the stark lights of the cell, reminded him it all really happened. Stark, hah. Stark was the one reason he was here, wasn’t he? One of the two reasons, technically.

He turned around to face the window, the beach and sea visible in the bright night.

He was free.

He was free of Thanos’ clutched, free of the prison his own family built him, free of royal responsibility. But he may never be free of the memory. He may never be free of the nightmares, of his own Jotun core, his past.

He was on Midgard, in the house of a man he threw out of the window a month ago, and he felt safer than in the palace he grew up in here. But no matter how far he would be, even on the other side of the galaxy, nothing would change everything that happened. His brain told him to catch up on sleep now that he could, now that he was safe.

His heart didn’t believe the safety was real.

But what reason did Anthony Stark and the green monster man had to get him out? What reason did they have to offer him room to sleep and safe passage on Midgard despite risking themselves? Loki knew the diplomatic prisoner exchange thing was a quick fairytale excuse. But didn’t that prove that their intentions were pure?

After all, those two men were heroes, and heroes saved people in need.

Heroes like Thor.

***

The previous night Tony just sent him to bed, insisting Loki needed it. He slept a few times, in short naps broken by nightmares, and didn’t feel rested at all, but come morning he agreed he needed to just lay down and rest at least.

He wasn’t sure why it was so easy to relax here, in those unfamiliar surroundings, with people he barely knew around, but he did not find the tension that hasn’t left him for more than two years here. Maybe it was just the fact for the first time in so long there was no immediate danger. Maybe it was letting someone else decide what to do. Now the sun was up, so bright but so different and Tony served him breakfast (food on Midgard was also vastly superior to Asgardian bland meats) and took him out on the terrace again, to talk overseeing the water.

Deep down, Loki was grateful to be out in the open, breathing fresh air and feeling the wind in his hair. It got so long in the time haircuts were the last thing on his mind, maybe he could now cut it. Maybe then he would be able to look in the mirror and start seeing himself again.

„So I wanted to talk to you.”

The deadpan look Loki gave him must have carried the point across because Tony smirked.

„I know. Shocker. But anyway, I guess I could start with... What do you want to do now? Now that you’re out? Also, we need to get your a doctor, or maybe Bruce can look at your feet, they were all bloody and--”

„It’s fine. It’s already healed.”

Tony hummed, clearly intrigued. Loki didn’t say anything, curious if the man would insist, want to know more about it or more about magic. Instead, Tony just bit his lip and let it go. It felt good, someone respecting his boundaries.

„That’s good. So what do you want now?”

Loki turned away to look at the waves. They kept hitting the shores, one after another, an endless symphony of bright white and azure blue against the golden sand. They were relentless, eternal, unmoved by the changing world. No matter how hard you pushed against it, the next wave would still hit in perfect shape.

They were probably cold. He could swim between them anyway, unbothered by the temperature, and now he knew why.

What did he want to do now? He looked at Tony.

„I don’t know.”

Tony looked at him what strange understanding.

„That’s fine. I’ve been through my fair share of bullshit too. Sometimes you just need some time. Sometimes you need everyone to leave you alone. Sometimes you need to talk. So like, if you want to, I can listen. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

Loki thought about it.

„And then what?”

„You can stay here, or I guess you can go... somewhere. You could very well fuck off to another part of the galaxy. Or if you wanted to hang around Earth I’d give you money but you’d have to keep your head down until I have Pepper on the PR nightmare of convincing people you’re not evil. And if you stayed here, you can just hang around watching TV or reading, or do fun experiments with me.” Tony’s voice sounded weirdly hopeful at that. „And if you stay, I would like to suggest you see a therapist. I know it doesn’t sound like it would help, but I have gone through fighting it for so long myself and now I have one, and it’s actually good.”

„What is a therapist?”

Tony’s eyes gone wide for a second.

„You know what. I don’t know why I expected Asgard Absolute Monarchy Without Proper Judicial System to know what therapy is. Get comfy, we are having Earthly Vocabulary 101.”

Loki lay down and listened.

***

That day, just sprawled out on the terrace and talking with Tony, was actually very helpful. Tony explained what therapy was, and while wary of the idea of talking to a stranger, Loki agreed the idea of someone helping him deal with shit sounded nice. Tony promised he would help him find someone trusted since most people still thought Loki was a villain.

Tony also promised to „sic Pepper on the public” which was not a vicious dog, but apparently, a petite red-headed woman Loki later met, and agreed was far more dangerous than a dog. She was also apparently magical, according to Tony, despite Loki knowing she had no magic and would make something called a campaign that would clear Loki’s name.

Loki didn’t particularly care if people thought he was evil, but apparently unless people stopped believing that he couldn’t go to a grocery store or out for coffee without a glamour, so he agreed.

Loki already lived his entire life as a glamour. He had enough of them.

Not really quite enough to drop the Asgardian skin, no. But Tony also told him about what racism was, on Earth, and how it applied to his case too, and he introduced him to his friend Rhodey, who was a scary but nice man - that seemed to be a type of friends Tony attracted. Loki wondered if he himself fit that type. Scary? Naturally. But nice?

But slowly, Tony convinced Loki to show off his blues a few times. He insisted the Jotun form was just as gorgeous (Loki blushed, and gently told Tony off, and learned that Tony liked to flirt but wasn’t interested in a relationship) and that it was a scientific goldmine to analyze the different reading when Loki was wearing glamour and not.

With time, Loki actually _settled into this life_.

Over the next weeks, Tony gently introduced the other Avengers to the mind control theory and Loki got to meet Clint (the Hawk!) and Natasha. Despite what he feared, he and Clint actually hit it off quickly, difficult history overshadowed by mischievous nature. Thor visited to drop Jane off and apologize to Loki profusely and Clint was very helpful in helping to execute some pranks, convincing Thor of Earthly customs that absolutely did not exist. Surprisingly, Jane did not try to --reveal? Debunk?-- them and even happily confirmed that indeed, it was customary on Earth, when visiting your friends’ house, to eat a whole jar of mayo as a proof of good intentions.

Disgustingly, Thor not only did it but seemed to enjoy it. Such was a risk of trying shit on his own brother. Thor was just weird.

***

„Do some magic for me?”

Loki sighed, rolling his eyes in pretend mockery. Deep down he really enjoyed Tony’s friendship and especially his chaotic nature.

„Do some science for me?”

He parroted Tony, making the other man look up at him with a sheepish smile.

„A simple illusion? Like those little light birds you did last week?”

He brought his hand up close to the scanner and made a little eight-legged horse run through the air around it. He thought about it for a moment and then made the horse change colours until it was shining with all of them, and eventually grow a horn.

„Did you just make a rainbow unicorn?”

Loki just smirked and dissolved the image.

„How does that look?”

„Like you’re still a scientific breakthrough waiting to happen once you stop stupefying me. But also cute.”

Loki leaned back in the office chair, spinning slowly around, thinking about what’s been bothering him for a few weeks now. Last time he talked to his therapist she gently suggested (read: told him with a stern look that reminded him of his mother... his mother, not Frigga - another thing they talked about) that he should just ask Tony before drawing conclusions.

„Tony?”

„Yeah, Lolo?”

„When you came to... rescue me, you weren’t alone.”

Tony hummed, not looking up from the holoscreen.

„Yeah, it was me and Brucie-bear. He’s actually the one who figured out you were innocent. He’s...” He looked around as if only now realizing a familiar presence missing in the lab. „He’s normally around but now that I think of it he’s been absent a lot lately.”

Yes. Loki definitely noticed.

„Tony, I think he hates me.”

Tony looked at Loki as if he grew a second head.

„Lokes, I know you have some insecurities but Brucie-bear here doesn’t even know hate is an emotion, I think. He doesn’t eve quite hate his own father and he has a lot of reasons to.”

„Then why is he avoiding me? I met him a few times but every time we talk he finds a reason to immediately excuse himself out.”

Tony frowned, clearly confirming that this wasn’t Bruce’s usual routine.

„Maybe you should ask _him_ that? No, wait, that’s a terrible idea. Okay, let’s try a sneaky approach. I invite Bruce to science together on a project tomorrow that he cannot really leave halfway through, and you also come down here, and I act as a mediator.”

„You, a mediator?”

„Hey! I have fantastic diplomatic skills. I stole you right from under Asgard’s nose with my sweet talk.”

And well. He wasn’t wrong about that, was he? Loki would have to trust that he would manage to solve this problem too.

***

There were unpleasant consequences to leaving with heroes all the time. Strict morality was rubbing off on Loki. He never had trouble with bending rules but now he felt guilty about it.

Not that he would let that stop him.

His therapist seemed equal parts amused by him growing a conscience and proud that he ignored it because apparently, it was a sign that he was back to his old self. He wasn’t sure he _wanted_ to be his old self again but he was sure a little eavesdropping was perfectly within reasonable rule-bending limits. He didn’t even feel too bad as he walked down, noticed Bruce already with Tony and quickly made himself invisible.

Jarvis, ever the enabler and Loki’s good friend by now, opened and closed the door for him. The other two men were thankfully too busy to notice the AI letting empty air inside. Or so Loki thought, but when five minutes later Tony suddenly changed topics.

„Hey, Bruce, I was thinking...”

„Yeah, that never ends well.” The man’s words were too quiet for Tony to hear but they made Loki snort.

„You remember how Loki tried to invade us and then sabotaged his own invasion?”

Loki looked at Bruce’s reaction carefully, finally hearing something worth listening to. The man sighed, but it didn’t really seem like he was annoyed or angry. More resigned, and maybe a little sad.

„How could I forget.”

„Anyway, I was thinking about how to prepare if someone competent, or well, competent and actually trying, tried to invade us.”

„Right. Because we now know there are aliens out there and not all of them are friendly.” Now Bruce just sounded tired and Loki could sympathize. It was a big universe and Earth was thrust into it unprepared.

„Yeah. But I was thinking if _I were to take over the world_...”

Bruce groaned.

„Oh God, here we come.”

Loki laughed, choosing to drop the invisibility spell.

„No, do go on, please.”

Bruce jumped, startled, as Loki decided to appear standing right behind him.

„Um, hi, Loki.”

„Hello, Bruce. You’re a hard man to pin down.” He watched carefully what reaction would the words _pin down_ entice out of Bruce. He wasn’t disappointed.

„I, um... I’m not much for company.”

„Nonsense.” Tony happily interrupted him with a grin, not even pretending to care. „You’ve been hiding this past month, don’t you think it’s time to venture out into the real world?”

Bruce looked at him for a long time, and Loki looked at Bruce. Tony wasn’t looking at either of them, instead seeming to lose himself in the project.

„I... Yeah, I needed some to... think.”

„Think about what?”

Bruce turned to meet his eyes.

„I guess... about you?”

***

Tony was satisfied. He was never really into relationships himself. He found it weird, the way everyone was so obsessed with dating and sex, but he did it because they did too and it was the cool thing to do. He didn’t _not_ enjoy it but it was about as interesting as a doughnut without a glaze. Sure, it’s tasty just fine but he wouldn’t seek it out.

Much later, once he already had a reputation of a playboy and has long since grown tired of every person he met just wanting to sleep with him, and after two failed „serious relationships”, Tony learned the word aroace. Or well, two words: aromanticism and asexuality.

It felt really nice, to have words that just fit like a glove, explained what he was feeling, what he was. At the same time, as he has finally grown comfortable with himself and happily accepted the idea of just gathering himself as many friends as possible and never having to bother with dating, he started, as a side-effect, to be hyper-aware of the concept of love and relationships. He started to notice how important romance was to people, and how happy it made them when they found the right partner.

And started to get into matchmaking.

It was even more fun than flirting, and the blissful happiness that was in the air around Happy and Pepper ever since he sat them up relaxed him. He beat it into Rhodey’s head that it was fine, even if Maria and Carol were already happy together, it didn’t mean there wasn’t still space in their happiness for him. Especially since he was already part of the family as Monica’s dad. And it worked out. A bit too well, because Rhodey loved to overshare about his love life.

So naturally, when Tony noticed the way Bruce looked at Loki only to later hide from him, he knew the reason. He was overjoyed when Loki told him he cared what Bruce thought about him. And now that they finally got forced into the same space, his work was basically cut out of him.

It took them two hours to finish the project, during which it became clear Bruce and Loki easily worked on the same scientific frequency (which happened to be similar to Tony’s frequency but calmer and more organized - if Bruce and Loki were sinus and cosinus, Tony was a tangens) and they seemed pretty comfortable in each other’s presence. Loki seemed as fascinated with Bruce as Bruce was with not looking directly at Loki, and when after they finished the two of them left Tony to his mad science and went to get lunch together, he knew his work was over.

Operation GammaFrost was successful.

***

„I’m sorry.”

Loki turned around to look at Bruce as they went to the kitchen to grab a bite together. It seemed that a gate has opened and Bruce refused to go back to hiding now, instead inviting Loki in, and Loki was all too happy take him up on that.

„For avoiding me?”

He looked adorably sheepish as he nodded.

„Yeah. I just... Maybe I’m just a coward. I didn’t know how to approach you. And I felt guilty, and hid rather than try to apologise.”

„I don’t think there is anything to apologise for, Dr. Banner. Aren’t you the very reason I am not rotting in a cell right now?”

Bruce opened the fridge and started taking out whatever inside seemed interesting. Loki collected the items and started sorting them into what looked possible to cook into an edible meal. It was starting to look like a chance at some shrimp dumplings and salad.

„I was also partially responsible for putting you in there.”

Loki looked at him for a while, before grabbing a cutting board, wrappers and moving to the table to cut the shrimp.

„I’m afraid that you have to share that blame with myself, as well as the monster who sent me here.”

He could feel Bruce’s eyes on himself as he chopped everything up and tossed it in a bowl to mix it. Bruce took another cutting board and sat next to him, getting started on the salad.

„Who was the... person? Who sent you here?”

Loki looked up, smiling bitterly. He thought about what his therapist told him about boundaries and how as much as he wanted to get to know Bruce better, they were still basically strangers.

„Maybe another day.”

He kept folding the dumplings, pleased as punch to notice the way Bruce’s eyes followed his fingers. The man shook himself out of the trance, slight blush on his face.

„Still, I’m sorry. Mostly for the big guy smashing you into the floor, even if that was not quite my fault.”

That sparked Loki’s curiosity.

„So the green... creature...” He hoped he managed not to offend Banner. „That’s you?”

„Technically.” Bruce’s smile was empty and multilayered. „Maybe another day?”

Loki nodded at his own echoed words.

He went back to folding the dumplings, happy with how comfortable the silence was between them and certain there would be another day and another conversation to continue this.

***

After that, the awkwardness disappeared. Bruce no longer avoided Loki and rather seemed to seek him out, opening a floodgate of questions that must have amassed over the month. Initially, they were mostly intellectual conversations about science and magic. Loki revelled in the fact that just like Tony, Bruce seemed amazed by his magic and wanted to know more about it.

They spent quite some time in the lab as the three of them, but Bruce and Loki would also spend time together, alone, walking down the beach sitting in Tony’s library. Their library. Tony told them his house was their home now and they knew he was sincere about that (Tony seemed to collect friends the way some people collected stamps) and slowly it did start to feel like home, more so than any other place had before. Loki felt like Bruce felt similarly.

To him, it was still more foreign than Asgard, and he would probably always think of the gilded walls when asked about his home, but here on Midgard, he felt like he was freer to be himself and be _seen_ than he ever was in his homeland, even as an innocent child completely oblivious to his family’s dark secrets.

And slowly, his and Bruce’s conversations turned more intimate.

At first, they familiarized themselves with each other, did the basic get to know you routine where Loki learned all Bruce’s favourite flavours of tea and Bruce watched Loki training and listened to some happier stories of his growing up with Thor. And then, finally, a trust was built, that seemed to take down their walls and allow them to broach the delicate subjects.

Surprisingly, it was Bruce who brought it up first.

„I’ve been talking to my therapist.”

Loki looked up at him, surprised.

„You have a therapist?”

He realized how stupid the question was rather quickly. In the end, it was none of his business, and the man turned into a green rage monster. Obviously, he had some anger management issues.

„Well, yeah. It’s a relatively new development. I had, you could say, a less than happy childhood, and then a less than happy adulthood... and then I turned into the Hulk.”

Loki just raised an eyebrow. He had to admit it all sounded like rather much for one person.

„But then I started living with Tony and he is extremely bad at self-care but at this point, even he has a therapist. And if he was big enough to admit it’s good to have one, I gave in. So I am now in therapy for a few weeks already and it’s surely an interesting experience.”

„Interesting is probably a good word to describe it.”

„But anyway, what I am getting it, is that I’ve been talking to my therapist about the word monster.”

Loki stilled, his whole body going taut in a millisecond. It was as if time froze around him. His therapist mentioned something called triggers but he wasn’t sure this was quite the same. He felt uncomfortable but not yet panicked... that was fine, right?

„Yes? What about that?”

Bruce wasn’t looking at him, blissfully unaware that Loki was a ball of tension.

„I... I think for the first time in forever, I believed when someone told me I’m not a monster. I got so used to it, to thinking of myself as a monster even before the Hulk, and I always saw him as the extension of that monstrous nature, of something that was wrong with me. But I think the Avengers, and moving in with Tony, and then you... This time when my therapist told me I’m not a monster I believed her. Tony has been so adamant about getting to know Hulk too, I at some point realized that he is not at fault for it. I’m not sure what he is, if he’s a part of me, or not, but he is not a monster either. And neither are you.”

Loki swallowed, choosing to change the topic rather than acknowledge this.

„He’s something else, I think. I can’t tell you exactly how it works but I feel Hulk as something akin to a soul. Something similar yet separate from you.”

Bruce nodded, clearly thoughtful, but he didn’t let Loki distract him.

„I know it’s gotta be hard. I’ve seen you watching the debate yesterday, though God only knows I have no idea why you put yourself through that but... those kinds of talks will be a part of it. Pepper will clear your name but not people’s memory. And slowly, at some point, if you choose to show yourself to the public, they may get to know you as we do, but right now the hurt is too fresh in many minds. But that doesn’t mean you’re a monster.”

Loki closed his eyes, wondering he wanted to answer.

„It’s so much more than that, Bruce. You have no idea who I really am, in the end, and trust me that attacking Midgard was by far not the worst thing that happened to me or that I have done in the last three years.”

„I don’t think it’s as bad as you think, Loki.”

Loki laughed, empty and bitter like he hadn’t in a while. This blissful life made it so easy to forget who he really was.

„You don’t know the half of it, Bruce.”

„Try me.”

„I killed my own father!” He practically yelled, frustrated with this conversation.

„So?” Bruce’s answer was calm, not judging. „So did I.”

That made Loki pause.

„You have no idea about what I’ve done either, Loki. And we both had our reasons that made sense at the time. In some ways, we didn’t have a choice.”

Loki didn’t answer but he met Bruce’s eyes this time. He wasn’t sure he believed it but... it did feel good, to know there was someone out there who could understand and wouldn’t look at him differently knowing the truth.

***

Loki told his therapist about the adoption.

He wasn’t even planning on doing that but then Rhodey visited and he and Tony and Loki were hanging out together and ended up drunk and depressed and sharing all kinds of sad backstories... and some hilarious ones from college but mostly they just cried.

They agreed to never talk about it again in the morning as Loki cured their hangover but frankly it felt weirdly good and therapeutic to get to complain and not be called out for it, to see other people struggled as much as you did.

Because Tony was this larger than life figure, a superhero, a man with a whole planet of worshippers despite being only forty years of age. And yet he was adopted and adopted by shitty parents at that, and years later he still didn’t quite come to terms with everything or found his biological family. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to find it and find out why they gave him up.

Norns, did Loki relate to that, a bit too much.

And Rhodes was a superhero himself, a successful man, high ranking military officer. His best friend was a billionaire and he had a wonderful spitfire of a daughter (Lieutenant Trouble was a girl after Loki’s heart) and two amazing partners, and yet both he and his Maria had faced obstacles and discrimination every day of their lives.

If some humans could believe that skin colour somehow made Rhodey, Maria and even little Monica somehow worse when Loki _knew_ them all and how amazing people they were, then maybe his therapist, and Rhodey, and Tony, and Bruce, and Clint, and Natasha, and Pepper, and like everyone Loki has met so far who knew he was not Asgardian were right.

It was not easy to unlearn centuries of prejudice but... even Loki had to admit he didn’t know enough about Jotnar to argue with that.

Deep down, he was still the same person he was before he learned about his past. Changed, mostly by circumstance rather than the knowledge itself, but at his core, still Loki. And that was, at least, in some way comforting.

***

Loki took a deep breath, staring at himself in the mirror.

He was talking to his therapist about this for a few weeks now. At first, he always deflected whenever she tried to broach the subject. He had to give it to her though, she was pretty gentle, and not invasive in her poking, and very effectively made the topic lodge itself firmly in his brain until he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

So he started answering. And they started talking, unravelling Loki’s darkest thought, untangling the mess of his feelings until here he was.

„Try to just look at yourself maybe? See if you see yourself in that face. See if you change in any way besides the colour of your skin.”

Familiarize yourself with how you look when you’re like that because in the end, that’s what you are. The skin you wear every day is a part of you now, something you became, but the blue isn’t your enemy. It’s just as natural. Just as much your.

Familiarize yourself with who you are.

„You faced an angry bilgesnipe with just your seidr and a broken dagger, you idiot, you can do it.”

He muttered to himself, or rather the mirror, and wiggled his fingers, familiar gestures helping to centre his energy. He was barefoot on the carpet, his whole body visible in the full-length mirror that covered the entrance to his wardrobe. He had just his pyjama pants on, ironically, blue ones, and left his shirt off, in some way curious as much as anxious. He has never seen himself like that. Not once. Just his hand. He had no idea if the strange lines were also present on the rest of his body if his face would even be... his.

He shook his head and told himself to stop stalling, letting the cold touch of his seidr wash away the shape he always wore. He let out a breath and forced himself to open his eyes.

He didn’t _feel_ different and once he allowed the shiver of nervousness and the feeling of weirdness that came with looking in the mirror and not seeing himself pass, he realized he didn’t really _look_ different either. Not much. His skin was blue, a much lighter shade than he expected, probably because of the bright light of the room in contrast with Jotunheim’s gloomy night, and he had strange lines going down his entire body, more like scars than tattoos, ridged into his skin but smooth to touch. Touching his own skin didn’t feel cold either, which in retrospect made sense.

But his face, he was happy to realize, that was still Loki. That was still _him_ , and in that moment, looking into his own eyes, unfamiliar red but oh so familiar in shape, in every line, he found himself thinking back to Bruce’s words and suddenly believing he was not, after all, a monster.

He was blue, and a Jotun, but he was Loki.

***

„Hey, Loki, can I borrow--”

Loki startled, feeling seidr he didn’t even realize was dancing right under the surface of his skin escape him. He felt cold _now_ and looked down to see a layer of ice came out from under his feet, covering a small circle on the floor around him. Seeing it he realized his seidr felt different, probably more innate ice magic connected to his nature.

That was something worth exploring.

„Bruce?”

The man was frozen in the doorway where he barged into Loki’s bedroom, most certainly not expecting to find him in this vulnerable position. Loki has long since gone past the feeling of being exposed when people looked at him naked, so his instincts didn’t really tell him to hide in this form either.

Bruce was staring at him, hand still at the handle, whatever he was saying before coming in probably forgotten.

His gaze, however, Loki was pleasantly surprised to notice, was not disgusted or appalled. More than shocked, it was even... appreciative, to say the least.

That hungry look in Bruce’s eyes honestly did more on his road to self-acceptance than hours with his therapist. He preened a bit, standing taller and smirking, which seemed to finally shake Bruce out of the trance.

„Um, sorry, I mean, you know... oh fuck it. That’s really hot.” He said, pointing at Loki in general. „I kind of wanna kiss you.”

„Only kind of?”

Loki extended a hand to Bruce, who took it, coming closer. Their gazes locked together.

„Definitely.”

As their lips met, Loki thought that monsters or not, he was glad he and Bruce found each other.

***

„Get your elbow out of my side, Tones or so help me.”

Rhodey was taking up the couch, which everyone seemed happy to give to him because he had his two lovely partners on each side and then both Tony and Monica across his lap. It was slightly crowded.

They had a little „family reunion”, if you could call it that, to celebrate the fact Loki was officially pardoned by Earth authorities (not that there was anything to pardon considering they released him to the judgement of the Asgardian system but Pepper said it was better to make them feel important) and officially joined the roster as an Avenger.

Everyone was there. Pepper and Happy, since she was basically the woman behind this whole Operation: Loki success and Happy followed his wife everywhere. They were practically on top of each other on the loveseat. Clint and Natasha visited for the week because they missed a proper beach and ocean in New York and wanted holidays and they were precariously perched on the couch’s back, looking weirdly comfortable considering their position. Loki himself was sprawled on the floor, half on top of Bruce. Even Thor and Jane visited and were on another couch with Darcy and her girlfriend, Hope, who happened to also be a superhero because that was just what their family was like.

Steve was around too. He was the one who took the most convincing that Loki wasn’t evil but eventually they got together well enough. A while ago they worked together when Steve’s old times’ sweetheart, Bucky Barnes, resurfaced in rather grim circumstances, and Loki helped him get rid of the brainwashing. After that, the three of them got together surprisingly well because Steve was in love and no longer grumpy, and also they all had surprisingly much ice-related trauma each, so they bonded over that.

It felt weirdly nice, to have so many people around him, and all of them there _because_ of him, because they _liked_ him. He wasn’t used to that. (That was _sad,_ he now realized, but it was changing, and that was _good_.)

The TV was on, playing the news clippings about Loki while they waited for Peter and Riri, newest additions to the Avengers reserve bench, were making popcorn for the movie in the kitchen. Loki loved both those kids to pieces and officially unadopted them with Tony (they had Peter’s aunt’s and Riri’s mom’s blessing). A reporter on-screen was currently commenting how Loki’s superhero suit was surprisingly not green - he opted for a more practical black but with a seidr retractable yellowish gold-lined cape, in honour of his mother and to match his horns. He was attached to the horns, even if some people made fun of them.

„I swear to Norns, you invade a planet wearing green once...”

„You were wearing green in the cell when we went to fetch you.” Tony chimed in all too happily.

„And you do like your green, brother.” Thor perked up. „It’s your royal colour back home.”

„Traitors!” He turned to glare at them. „Traitors all around me!”

Bruce chuckled a bit, the movement of his chest tickling Loki’s cheek. A gentle hand moved to his hair, running his fingers through it.

„I think it’s fine.” Bruce said, quietly enough it was for Loki’s ears only in the loud room. „Personally, I _really_ like green. _”_

Loki couldn’t help the smile the broke on his face at that. He always liked his green, that was true, but he thought that ever since he started dating Bruce, he found himself even more attached to the colour. Maybe green was, after all, a colour of hope.


End file.
